The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 124 Sweetness

Chapter 124: Chapter 124 Sweetness

Wang Yongzhu saw the oil residue and her face turned green.

Could she refuse this motherly kindness?

Of course not!

But to eat it alone in front of her nephews, niece, and sister-in-law?

Absolutely not!

After pondering for a moment, Wang Yongzhu gave a piece of the oil residue to Old Granny Zhang, "Mother, you’ve been working hard all day. Cooking must have been exhausting, right? Please taste this—"

Old Granny Zhang felt delighted. It’s a daughter’s care for her mother indeed, not even forgetting her own mother over a piece of oil residue.

If she were to rely on her sons, she might never get to taste a piece of meat in this lifetime!

Nodding her head, she put the oil residue in her mouth, which melted instantly. It was both fragrant and crispy, provoking an irresistible appetite.

Jinpan, Jinhua, and Jinshao all bowed their heads and ate their meals. Today’s dishes were only pickled vegetables and tofu, but they were cooked with pork fat, and they too were delicious.

They did not even glance at the oil residue.

Wang Yongzhu indeed wanted to share a piece with each of them, but Old Granny Zhang was by her side, and since she had specially kept it for her, she would surely not allow her to give it to the children of the third household.

So, she could only silently eat her meal, her chopsticks never reaching for the oil residue.

Seeing her daughter act this way, Old Granny Zhang knew she was too modest to eat alone in front of her nephews.

Ever since the engagement with the Song Family Boy was called off, the girl must have been truly heartbroken, and after hearing some idle gossip, no matter how much her mother comforted her and backed her up afterwards, her disposition seemed to have changed from being fearless and carefree to being exceedingly cautious and overthinking everything.

It hurt the mother’s heart. Even though both parents were still able to work and earn money, why should their only daughter have to live so oppressively?

Decisively, she took her bowl and pushed all of the food reserved for her daughter into her daughter’s bowl.

Wang Yongzhu was thinking that as long as she didn’t eat it, she could later share a piece with each of the youngsters when her mother wasn’t paying attention, and that would be fine.

Unexpectedly, Old Granny Zhang bluntly and forcefully dumped all the food into her own bowl and glared at her, "Eat it quick!"

That was it! No more words needed!

Outside, Jinguan leaned toward the table, drooling at the sight of the oily meat in the dish on the table.

The pieces of meat in the dish were counted, one for each person. This was how peasant households treated guests, and guests also knew the custom well, usually only picking up the piece of meat intended for them. Only those who were extremely rude and shameless would eat someone else’s share.

There was once a stingy family, poor as well, who, during the New Year when hosting guests, also cut the meat into slices. But the daughter-in-law, unwilling to let the meat be eaten by the guests, came up with an idea: threading the meat slices together with a string.

The guests were unaware, and when one picked up a piece intending to eat it, they ended up lifting a whole string.

Naturally, they felt too embarrassed to take any, and reportedly that plate of meat was carried from the first to the fifteenth of the New Year. After all the guests who came for holiday visits had left, they finally cut the string and ate the meat themselves.

Ever since then, whenever guests sat down at the table, the host would pick up a piece first, signaling to the guests, "We are not the stingy kind; the meat is there to be eaten," then guests would proceed with their chopsticks.

Today, it naturally was Wang Laozhu who picked up a slice first, followed by the Clan Leader and the rest of the clan members.

Jindou and Jinhu were tasked with pouring wine for the guests, signifying the beginning of being acknowledged as adults. They were both nervous and excited, fearing that any mistake could bring shame to their family.

Thus, whatever others did, they followed suit; when the guests ate meat, they each picked up a piece and put it in their mouths.

Only Wang Yongan, who usually ate much better than this on a daily basis, didn’t see the appeal of this fatty meat.

He just picked some egg to eat, and that piece of meat was left in the bowl, conspicuously alone.

Jinguan kept his eyes on this piece of meat. He looked around and noticed that although his fourth uncle had picked up some meat as well, he just placed it in his bowl and hadn’t eaten it, unlike his two brothers who had already devoured their pieces.

With a pout, his eyes darted about, and he came up with an idea. His family rarely ate meat, and the fourth uncle didn’t often eat it either.

But the second uncle, he appeared as someone who wasn’t short of meat. How could he pass up such fatty meat and not even reach for it with his chopsticks? Really stupid, not eating the meat; it might as well benefit him instead.

So, after hesitating a moment, Jinguan approached Wang Yongan, "Second Uncle, Second Uncle—" he called softly, lifting his bowl and eyeing the piece of fatty meat in the dish.

Every New Year or festival when Wang Yongan came back, he had seen Jinguan, this little rascal, sidle up next to the eldest brother to scrounge for meat on multiple occasions.

He couldn’t respect him less, a real country bumpkin, dazzled by a piece of meat, knowing nothing but to eat, eat, eat!

Despite his disdain, Wang Yongan still picked up the piece of meat with a faint smile and placed it in Jinguan’s bowl, "Eat it!"

"Thank you, Second Uncle!" Jinguan couldn’t wait and, without using chopsticks, grabbed the meat with his hands and stuffed it into his mouth, a stream of grease trickling down from the corner of his lips.

Disgusted, Wang Yongan turned his head away.

All the men at the table had downed a couple of cups of liquor and were feeling buzzed, each of them speaking loudly and boastfully. No one noticed the interaction between Wang Yongan and Jinguan.

Even if they had seen it, they wouldn’t have thought much of it. What’s the harm in a nephew asking his uncle for a piece of meat?

Wang Yongan had to suppress his urgent desire to escape and his loathing for this home, for Qilidun, and pretend to listen to the clan leader’s grandiose talk.

Heaven knows, the clan leader, this old man, spoke in circles. It all boiled down to telling him not to forget his roots and to help his fellow clansmen more, even insinuating that since he hadn’t passed the graduate exam, he should stop striving and return home to nurture a few clansmen to take the exam in the future, which would be good, too.

Pah! He, Wang Yongan, was a natural prodigy, and when it came to studying, not a single person in town, not even the entire county, could compare to him.

Why hadn’t he passed the exam? Wasn’t it because his family was poor, lacking money and connections?

Claiming to be relatives, they couldn’t lend a hand and still expected him to help them? Dream on!

Each of them stuck in their backwater hollows, lacking insight and vision, only focusing on their tiny plots of land, how could they have any prospects?

How could swallows understand the ambitions of a swan? Could he really make his aspirations clear to a group of country folks who only know how to scrounge in the soil their whole lives?

However, the matter he had determined was only fifty to sixty percent certain; Qilidun still had his family, which was ultimately his fallback. He had to keep up the charade a bit longer.

Quickly adjusting his mindset, Wang Yongan put on a gentle smile again, going along with the clan leader’s words, saying pleasant things, but not really agreeing to anything substantial.

On the other side, Jinguan had tasted something sweet; the meat was too delicious! Soft and smooth, it left a lingering fragrance on his lips.

One piece down, and it only whetted the appetite of the glutton inside him. Seeing that there was only the meat left in his fourth uncle’s bowl, he brazenly sidled up to him, "Fourth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, I want some meat—"

The children were all too familiar with Wang Yongping and could be more straightforward with him than with Wang Yongan, directly asking for what they wanted.

Wang Yongping, without thinking, picked up the meat, ready to put it in Jinguan’s bowl, but then paused, "You little rascal, cut the cunning act, I’ve seen you ask your second uncle for meat! Lacking in substance! This meat is saved for your aunt, she’s been working hard these past days and hasn’t even got a piece of meat yet!"